Representatives from USCCB, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, and Catholic Relief Services have sent a joint letter to members of Congress regarding the Farm Bill. House and Senate conferees have finished a final conference report that is heading to congress for a vote.

The United Nations estimates that up to a million people may have been left homeless in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. "It could not have happened in a worse stretch of land. With the tidal surge at 12 to 15 feet, presumably thousands of people living along the [Irrawaddy] Delta were simply washed away," says Pat Johns, director of Catholic Relief Services' emergency response team.

CRS is supporting the emergency relief and response efforts of the Caritas Internationalis network in the most affected areas of Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis brought a deadly tidal surge across the low-lying coastal areas of the country on Saturday.

The latest reports are that 60,000 people are dead or missing and 1 million are homeless. These numbers are expected to rise. The level of devastation is still difficult to assess as communications remain spotty and news trickles out of the country. Conditions are dire. Food, water and basic shelter are urgently needed.

Please donate now to help CRS provide relief to the thousands of families affected by this tragic disaster.

For more than 60 years, CRS has supported long-term development programs and emergency relief efforts—including responses to cyclones and other natural disasters—in the regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate voted 95 to 0 to pass the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA,” H.R. 493), which bars employers and health insurers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of their own or their family members’ genetic information, on April 24.

Deirdre McQuade, Assistant Director for Policy and Communications at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, praised its passage.

“Today the Senate took a stand for some of the most vulnerable members of the human family, whether born, yet to be born, or placed for adoption. No one should be discriminated against on the basis of genetic testing,” McQuade said.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a nearly identical bill by a vote of 420 to 3 on April 25, 2007.

“The Pro-Life Secretariat is particularly grateful to Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) for ensuring that this bill’s protection against discrimination will cover the families of unborn children with adverse prenatal diagnoses, as well as children being adopted,” she said. “His advocacy on their behalf will empower families to welcome vulnerable children with special needs into their lives.”

“After minor technical differences between the House and Senate bills are resolved, we look forward to President Bush signing into law this important protection for American families,” McQuade said.

New column posted on the new health care directives, Faithful Citizenship, and upcoming health care conference.

North Dakota Catholic Conference executive director Christopher Dodson attended a White House welcoming ceremony for Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday.

The invitation-only event on the White House south lawn was the official welcome to the Pope on his first visit to the United States since assuming the pontificate. It was only the second visit of a pope to the White House in United States history.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush welcomed the Pope in a ceremony that included a 21-gun salute, a fife and drum band, and a singing of the Lord’s Prayer. Following the official ceremony, the band led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to the Pope, who turned 81 on Wednesday.

“Both the President and the Holy Father spoke of the importance of faith, virtue, and religious liberty in a democratic society,” said Dodson. “The whole event instilled a sense of pride and appreciation at being both Catholic and American,” added Dodson.

Dodson received the invitation because of his position as the public policy liaison for the state’s Roman Catholic bishops. He will be available for interviews.

Next week, during the Apostolic Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, the House of Representatives will likely consider the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007 (HR 2634) which represents an essential next step in alleviating the crushing burdens of debt that plague many developing countries.  The timing is significant since the Holy See has been a strong supporter of debt relief.
 
Please use this action alert and urge your Representative Earl Pomeroy to support the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007 (HR 2634). 
 
Thanks to advocates like you substantial debt burdens have already been lifted off the backs of the poor and this legislation will build on that important work. Let's finish the work we have done on debt relief for poor people around the world. 
 
Represenative Earl Pomeroy
Washington: United States House of Representatives
1501 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone: (202) 225-2611
FAX: (202) 226-0893
Bismarck: Telephone: (701) 224-0355
Fargo: Telephone: (701) 235-9760

rep.earl.pomeroy@mail.house.gov

Three years ago, the North Dakota Catholic Conference published a Catholic health care directive that met North Dakota law, reflected Catholic teaching, and incorporated the advice of  health care providers, ethicists, lawyers, chaplains, and experienced laypersons.  

The Catholic health care directive proved very popular.  Thousands were requested and sent out from our office.  Other state Catholic conferences and diocese have used the documents as a model for their own advance directives. 
 
We have now revised the Catholic health care directive.  Don’t worry if you used the 2005 version.  It is still good.  The new version merely incorporates some facts we learned during the last three years, makes it more user-friendly, and even a little shorter.

We have also created a new website. The new site has an easy to use order/download form.  You can download the copies you need or order multiple copies from the conference at no charge.  The website also contains useful information on directives, end-of-life care, Catholic principles on health care decisions, bulletin inserts and links to additional information.

Please visit the new site and take advantage of this opportunity to ensure that health care decisions conform to your Catholic wishes.

From the North Dakota State Data Center:



According to the report, nearly 47 percent of all food stamp recipients were 18 years or younger.

This month's column discusses Catholic teaching on taxes.

Excerpt:

As Christians, we have obligations toward the common good. For that reason, we have a duty to pay taxes. Jesus did not consider it unjust to pay taxes to Caesar. (Mk 12:13-17; Mt 22:15-22; Lk 20:20-26) Saint Paul insisted on the civic duty to pay taxes. (Rm 13:7) The Catechism says: Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes . . .” (Catechism, No. 2240.)

Read more . . .

From NRLC:

Ennis passionate about sustainable agriculture, ingenuity of rural people

Des Moines, Iowa -- Today Most Reverend Ronald Gilmore, president of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference (NCRLC), named James F. Ennis, executive director of the Des Moines-based nonprofit Catholic organization.  "We look forward to Jim Ennis’ professional experience, business skills, and faith experience to help NCRLC apply the teachings of Jesus Christ for the social and economic development of rural America," said Gilmore, Bishop of the Diocese of Dodge City, Kansas.

Ennis is currently Director for Food Alliance Midwest, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based affiliate of the national Food Alliance. Food Alliance operates a sustainable agriculture certification program for farms, ranches, and other food-based businesses interested in using ‘sustainability’ and related claims to differentiate and add value to food products, and to protect and enhance brands. Operating within 8 Midwest states, the program has grown under Ennis’ leadership from four farms in 2000 to over 75 certified farms and processors throughout the Midwest in 2007.

Ennis has over 18 years of marketing and project management experience, leading cross-functional teams in marketing both food and consumer products with The Pillsbury Company and The Clorox Company, respectively. Ennis earned an MBA degree, with an emphasis in marketing from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis, where he studied agricultural and managerial economics.

"I’m as passionate about sustainable agriculture as I am about the Catholic faith," said Ennis who spent six years in Christian ministry to college students including two years as a missionary assistant in Lusaka, Zambia in the late 1980s.  "I look forward to providing spiritual, educational, and advocacy leadership to NCRLC as we support the ingenuity of rural people to shape their own destinies and lead lives of dignity," he added.

Ennis follows Br. David Andrews, CSC, as executive director of the organization that has been the rural voice of the Catholic Church for 85 years.

WASHINGTON— Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt was praised for defending physicians’ conscience rights by Deirdre McQuade, spokesperson on pro-life issues for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. She made her comments on March 19 following a public attack on Secretary Leavitt by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

The attack was prompted by a March 14 letter from Secretary Leavitt to the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), expressing concern about a new ethics opinion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) calling on conscientiously opposed physicians to perform or refer for abortions. Ms. McQuade’s statement follows.

“Secretary Leavitt should be commended for defending federal laws protecting the conscience rights of physicians. The new ACOG ethics opinion calling on pro-life OB/GYNs to perform or refer for abortions is in direct conflict with the policy reflected in federal law since 1973. Indeed, just yesterday, a federal judge in California dismissed a challenge to a federal law protecting physicians in government programs from being forced to do abortion referrals.
 
“If the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology relies on the ACOG opinion when deciding whether to grant board certifications, hospitals could find themselves illegally discriminating against perfectly qualified physicians who have been denied certification for ideological reasons. Any HHS Secretary should be concerned about the possibility of federal health care institutions placing themselves in conflict with federal law.
 
“The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights (RCRR), formerly known as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights, has nonetheless launched a personal attack on Secretary Leavitt for doing his job. RCRR’s March 18 news release accuses the Secretary of displaying a ‘narrow view of conscience,’ ‘disregard’ for women,’ and a ‘dogmatic indifference to the patient.’ 
 
“But it is RCRR that has a narrow view of conscience – so narrow as to recognize a genuine conscience claim only among those who happen to agree with RCRR about abortion. In fact, women and men, physicians and non-physicians, have a fundamental right not to be forced to participate in actions they believe are gravely wrong, especially actions involving the taking of an innocent human life. Moreover, most OB/GYNs in training today are themselves women, and these women have rights, too.
 
“The abortion industry -- and its allies in medical groups -- have often complained that so few doctors are willing to perform abortions, but that is no excuse for coercing pro-life physicians to do their dirty work. The movement that used to call itself “pro-choice” is becoming a parody of itself.”
 

The following letter appeared in the Fargo Forum on March 7, 2008. We have posted it here with citations to the referenced studies.

Dear Editor:

Planned Parenthood’s Amy Jacobson argues that North Dakota needs more subsidized family planning to reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions. Her letter, however, overlooks some important facts.
 
For one thing, North Dakota and the federal government already spend over two million dollars a year for family planning services in the state. 1  

Predictably, Planned Parenthood, a major recipient of government funding nationally, thinks two million dollars is not enough and wants North Dakota’s taxpayers to spend more money.  We should not be fooled.  Ample evidence now exists showing that the contraception and “comprehensive sex education” campaigns cannot achieve their alleged goals of reducing abortions and unplanned pregnancies.
 
A report from Planned Parenthood’s own research arm, the Guttmacher Institute, shows that states that most aggressively promote contraceptives have some of the highest abortion rates in the country.  States that do not, like Kansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota, have the lowest abortion and teen pregnancy rates. 2 Studies from other countries also show the ineffectiveness of contraceptive programs.3  Concludes one recent overview: “Most studies that have been conducted during the past 20 years have indicated that improving access to contraception did not significantly increase contraceptive use or decrease teen pregnancy.”4  New studies also show that large part of the reduced abortion rate in recent years is due to an increase in the number of teens nationwide who delay initiating sexual activity,5 in effect, responding to the very “abstinence only” initiatives Planned Parenthood wants to eliminate.
 
Finally, we cannot ignore that in Planned Parenthood’s view, “comprehensive reproductive health care” includes unfettered access to, and taxpayer funding for, abortion.  Policies that limit abortion, however, such as restricting public funding, ensuring informed consent for women seeking abortions, and protecting parental rights in the case of minors seeking abortions, have a well-documented and significant effect of reducing abortions.6
 
In short, Planned Parenthood says it wants to reduce abortion, but proposes only failed, and ultimately flawed, government programs. 

Christopher Dodson
Executive Director
North Dakota Catholic Conference


1. (Public Funding for Family Planning, Sterilization and Abortion Services, FY 1980–2006; Adam Sonfield, Casey Alrich and Rachel Benson Gold; Guttmacher Institute, January 2008)

2. http://www.guttmacher.org

3. David Paton, “The Economics of Family Planning and Underage Conceptions,” Journal of Health Economics, 21.2 (March 2002): 207-225; abstract available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V8K-4537PJR-3/2/7b0ac0ed4b84065fae3119e1663e50bc; Edgardh, K. et al. Adolescent Sexual Health in Sweden, Sex Trans Inf 78 (2002): 352-6, available at http://sti.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/78/5/352

4. Douglas Kirby, “Reflections on Two Decades of Research on Teen Sexual Behavior and Pregnancy,” Journal of School Health 69.3 (March 1999.)

5. JK Mohn et al. “An analysis of the causes of the decline in non-marital birth and pregnancy rates for teens from 1991-1995,” Adolescent and Family Health 2003; 339-47; available at www.afhjournal.org; National Campaign to Reduce Teen Pregnancy, “Science Says: Pregnancy Among Sexually Experienced Teens, 2002,” No. 23, April 2006, available at www.teenpregnancy.org/press/pdf/sciencesays23.pdf.

6. Theodore Joyce et al., “Changes in Abortions and Births and the Texas Parental Notification Law,” New England Journal of Medicine, 354: 1031-1038 (March 9, 2006); available at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/354/10/1031; [The authors. found a reduction in abortion rates among minor teens in Texas following enactment of that state’s parental notification law. “[A]bortion rates fell by 11 percent among 15-year-olds, … 20 percent among 16-year-olds, and 16 percent among 17-year-olds, … relative to the rates among 18-year-olds.” Joyce et al. also report: “Results from [five] previous studies have indicated that the abortion rate of minors decreases 13 to 42 percent after enforcement of a parental notification or consent law, if abortions are measured according to state of occurrence.”]; J. “Impact of Minnesota Parental Notification Law on abortion and birth,” American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 81, Issue 3, 294-298. See also Michael New, “Analyzing the Effects of State Legislation on the Incidence of Abortion During the 1900s,” Heritage Foundation Data Analysis Report #04-01 (2004), available at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/CDA04-01.cfm. [“The pre-enactment to post-enactment change in the Minnesota abortion rate reflected a greater decline for minors (less than or equal to 17 years old) than for 18-19 year-olds (who were not under the law). An increase in abortion rate occurred for women ages 20-44. The law appeared to have had no impact on birth rate in minors. … These data suggest that parental notification facilitated pregnancy avoidance in 15-17 year-old Minnesota women. Abortion rates declined unexpectedly while birth rates continued to decline in accordance with a long-term trend.”]; M. New, "Analyzing the Effect of State Legislation on the Incidence of Abortion Among Minors," Heritage Foundation Data Analysis Report #07-01 (2007), available at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/CDA07-01.cfm; M. New, “Using Natural Experiments to Analyze the Impact of State Legislation on the Incidence of Abortion,” Heritage Center for Data Analysis Report #06-01 (January 23, 2006); available at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/cda06-01.cfm.

From the USCCB:

Why this issue is important?  The Church stands firm in denouncing torture as it undermines and debases the dignity of both victims and perpetrators. Pope Benedict XVI said “the prohibition against torture cannot be contravened under any circumstance.”
 
The Senate voted 51-45 to pass HR 2082, the FY2008 Intelligence Authorization Act, which contains anti-torture legislation (Section 327) expanding the prohibition against torture of detainees to all U.S. intelligence agencies and their agents. We urge you to contact the White House and express your support for the anti-torture provisions of HR 2082 into law.
 
Background:  USCCB was successful in joining with other organizations in pressing the Senate to pass HR 2082 on February 13, 2008 with its anti-torture provisions intact. It was a triumph as it prohibits cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners held by U.S. intelligence agencies. Earlier legislation supported by USCCB had prohibited torture of those held by U.S. military and required that interrogation techniques conform to the standard now offered by the U.S. Army Field Manual. While the Conference cannot presume to be experts on the Manual, one of its guiding principles which USCCB supports echoes the Golden Rule, i.e. we should not use any technique against an enemy that we would not like to have used against our own military or civilians.
 
While USCCB does not take positions on the more technical and other provisions of the Intelligence Authorization Act, we believe the adoption of the anti-torture provision (Section 327) in HR 2082 would go a long way to restoring U.S. credibility in the international community by helping the U.S. regain the moral high ground. Respect for the dignity of every person, ally or enemy, must serve as the foundation of security, justice and peace. We cannot win the war against terror by abandoning fundamental moral values.
 
ACTION REQUESTED:  Ask your members to call the White House at 202-456-1111 or send an email to President Bush at comments@whitehouse.gov to express support for the anti-torture provisions in HR 2082 and urge him to sign this legislation.

The White House Office on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives has just released a seven-year progress report. Here is the page on activities in North Dakota:

(click on the image)

Today, February 26, the U.S. Senate approved the Vitter Amendment, 52-yes, 42-no, 6-not voting (Roll Call 30). The Vitter Amendment places the language of the Hyde Amendment abortion funding restrictions in the bill reauthorizing the Indian Health Service, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments, S. 1200.

Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan voted AGAINST the amendment.
 
Please contact them and express your disappointment that they did not support this amendment to ensure that taxpayer funds are not used for abortion on demand.

Senator Byron L. Dorgan
Washington: (202) 224-2551
Bismarck: (701) 250-4618
Toll Free: 1-800-666-4482
Fargo: (701) 239-5389
Grand Forks: (701) 746-8972
Minot: (701) 852-0703
senator@dorgan.senate.gov

Senator Kent Conrad
Washington: (202) 224-2043
Bismarck: (701) 258-4648
Toll Free: 1-800-223-4457
Fargo: Telephone: (701) 232-8030
Grand Forks: Telephone: (701) 775-9601
Minot: Telephone: (701) 852-0703
senator@conrad.senate.gov
   

North Dakota Catholic Conference Executive Director Christopher Dodson responded to a letter in the Forum about torture with the following:
In his Feb. 19 letter defending the use of waterboarding and other harsh techniques, Raymond Lottie makes a statement that is all too common today. He states: The relevant question for waterboarding is not whether it's torture, but whether it is effective.

That is precisely not the question we should ask. When effectiveness determines whether our government will engage in a particular interrogation technique, we stoop to a policy of the "end justifies the means." Is not rejection of such a philosophy one reason our nation fought World War II and the Cold War?

Most importantly, appeal to "effectiveness" and "results" glosses over the fact that a human person suffers. The use of physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty or obtain information violates the dignity of the human person and is always morally wrong.

Effective? Maybe. What, however, does it profit a nation to gain results, but lose its soul in the process?

The U.S. Bishops office has launched a new Faithful Citizenship site. It includes many, many resources for Catholics, pastors, educators, and more. The new site also includes podcasts on principles from Catholic social teaching. Check it out.

Late Wednesday afternoon, February 13, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the Senate would re-commence consideration of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments (S. 1200), and that consideration would continue through Thursday, February 14, and Friday, February 15, until work on the bill is completed
Pending since January 22 is an amendment by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) that would incorporate the language of the Hyde Amendment into the authorizing legislation. NCHLA issued an Action Alert in support of the Vitter Amendment on January 18. Please take whatever last minute efforts you can to urge your two Senators to vote for the Vitter Amendment. For NCHLA’s latest alert, see: nchla.org/actiondisplay.asp?ID=259. Thanks!
For the earlier alert see: http://ndcatholic.org/2/index.html#unique-entry-id-432

New column from the New Earth and Dakota Catholic Action posted.

Wesley Smith has worked closely with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for some years. An attorney who began his career working with Ralph Nader, Smith has developed an expertise and exposing the weaknesses in arguments for assisted suicide and embryonic stem cell research.

Here is the announcement on his visit:

The Hankinson Chapter Right for Life is sponsoring a Gift of Life conference on Sunday, March 2, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. at the St. Francis Convent Gym in Hankinson. The conference features guest speaker, Wesley J. Smith.
 
Smith is an international lecturer and public speaker, appearing frequently at political, university, medical, legal, disability rights, bioethics, religious, and community gatherings across the United States, Europe, Canada, South Africa, and Australia.
 
The conference is free to the general public. Three contact hours are available for nurses and social workers at a cost of $10 per contact hour. Pre-registration by February 15 is helpful, walk-ins are welcome. For more information or to register, contact HCRL at dvc2008@rrt.net or (701) 242-7196.